Kevin and his wife, whose family lives somewhere in Michigan
The new City Pages editor, Kevin Hoffman, logged on to the City Pages blogs Wednesday to clear up the geography question regarding the relative proximity of the Twin Cities and Cleveland to Michigan.
Some have suggested that he could have made the whole thing go away by claiming that his wife’s family is from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which is arguably closer to Minnesota, and doesn’t require a boat ride to get there. But no, he went with the time tested explanation employed by politicians everywhere: “I wuz misquoted by a journalist.”
In this case, that journalist is Deborah Rybak, the media reporter at the Strib.
First, you might want to ask yourself, Kevin, “Do you want to piss off the Strib’s media reporter right off the bat?” Second, you might want to ask yourself, “Do I want to act so thin skinned right in front of all my new subordinates?” Third, you might want to ask yourself, “What sort of big brass ones does City Pages staffer Chuck Terhark have to make him want to make fun of me before he even has the opportunity to kiss my ring?”
There’a thread going over at mnspeak about Hoffman and some of the ribbing he’s taken so far. The latest entrys are Deborah Rybak’s short jab in the Strib this morning (last item) about Hoffman’s myspace page, (Clarification: Rybak wrote the item on Wednesday, before Hoffman said he was misquoted) and my son’s fictitious Seven Quick Questions for the out-of-towner.
Given Hoffman’s comments on the CP blog, and his own defensive remarks to Rybak when questioned about his age, what we can perhaps conclude about him is that he could use some help in the humor and self deprecation department.
Maybe he could just use a better writer. Let’s pretend, ok?
Rybak: “Kevin, aren’t you kind of young?”
Hoffman: “Yeah, I’m so young, I still have my high school graduation on my myspace resume, just to make it seem longer.”
or
“I’m so young, I have a picture of a green guinea pig on my myspace page.”
or
“I saw that the City Pages’ publisher’s twelve-year-old daughter has a myspace page, and I thought being her myspace friend would be a good career move.”
or, maybe even
“Yes, I am young and I have some huge shoes to fill. Steve Perry has been an institution in the Twin Cities since before I got my learner’s permit. Over the years, he and City Pages have been responsible for a lot of remarkable journalism, and I hope the current staff, (none of whom were even considered for the editor’s job by the corporate bosses) will help me get to know the cities, and help me carry on the tradition of excellence they and Perry have established.”
Naah.
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